To quote Neil Forbes in one of his published papers: ‘All birds, both parents and offspring are in a constant balance between health and disease.’ As captive birds are the responsibility of the keeper, it is up to all of us to keep that balance correct. The best way to cope with any illness or injuries in captive birds of prey is to try and avoid them in the first place. Although this may sound rather trite, it is amazing how many problems can be solved by better care of birds, or spotting possible problems very early and treating immediately.
As stated so often throughout this book, get a good interested vet close by sorted out before you get a bird, or if not then, at least before you get any problems. (I shall use ‘him’ when speaking of vets just to shorten things, fully realising that there are just as many female vets, including my own cousin, all of whom are as expert with birds of prey.)
We have three first-class vets fairly close to The NBoP Centre and they all take calls from and give advice to other less experienced vets who have the sense to call them. It is so much better to have your local vet, while he has you and the bird with him, call an expert to discuss the problem, rather than take the bird miles for more expert advice. The more this is done, the more your own vet will learn, and the more experienced vets we will have generally. If you or your local vet feel that an examination by someone more experienced will be of benefit, you may have to travel with the bird. Incidentally, I had a phone call the other day from a falconer who had problems with his bird. He horrified me somewhat by saying that he could not afford to take his bird to the vet for treatment. If you cannot afford to care for a bird properly, and that includes veterinary treatment, then without doubt you should not have a bird in the first place.
Because of the Zoo Licensing Act 1981, we have to have a regular vet inspection here. Our vet comes round the Centre every eight weeks. This is very helpful, as his fresh, experienced eye may spot something that we, seeing the birds every day, may not have noticed. Although I don’t think everyone need do this, it is certainly a good idea for those people with numbers of birds in pens for breeding.
Annual Clean and Check
At least once a year, preferably more often, every bird is checked over, those in pens being caught up. This gives time for pens to be cleaned and checked over at the same time. The birds can be put into either temporary holding pens or boxes. We tend to clean pens and check birds by blocks. Each pair of birds in a particular breeding block, or half a block, is caught up and boxed separately. The pen is then cleaned. If you have large numbers of pens, why not organise a pen-cleaning weekend with friends who are willing to help. Then when they want to clean their pens you can return the favour. This will get the work done quickly.
Don’t forget to have all necessary materials ready before starting as they may be difficult to get, particularly at a weekend. If you have any vegetation on the floor of the pen, clear all this first and remove from the pen. Check all walls, wire or netting for any faults (which, if found, should be repaired immediately), scrub down with a strong solution of disinfectant, rinsing with clean water afterwards. Empty nest ledges and scrub and rinse in the same way. Check over all perches for rough or sharp bits, replace any worn ones, scrub and rinse. The same goes for food ledges and baths.
If you do not have gravel on the floor, but just soil, it will by this time be mud because of all the water, and you will wish you did have gravel. Give it a thorough raking, removing all faeces and rubbish, then sprinkle with the weed killer Prefix, which will stop growth for about a year. Cover the Prefix with a good spread of sand, dry if possible, this will stop the birds touching the weed killer and will dry the pen out. If you do have gravel as a base, first shovel out any really heavily soiled areas. Wash it down, with a high pressure hose if you can borrow or hire one. Most of these have a facility which enables you to add disinfectant to the water. Rinse well and add more gravel if needed. Leave the pen for as long as possible giving it time to dry out a little (twelve hours) before returning the birds.
Birds from pens which are finished at the end of the day can stay in their boxes overnight, to give the pen time to dry out. If the boxes are placed somewhere dark, quiet, dry and not too hot or cold, it does the birds no harm, particularly if you have good boxes. I reiterate the need for good equipment and my constant surprise at the poor boxes people use in which to place valuable birds. It really is neither difficult nor expensive to have a store of good, clean, strong wooden boxes for holding birds. They can even be built to fit inside one another for storage. Clean carpet on the floor of a good light-proof box will keep a bird perfectly safe and quiet for twenty-four hours, particularly a well fed aviary bird. I have travelled two-week-old eyass raptors all the way from southern Africa to this country and they have been in the boxes for twenty-four hours with no problems at all. Do not put more than one bird per box, even with known compatible pairs. Birds of prey should always be boxed individually unless they are small babies.
Once you are ready to put the birds back, then is the time to check them over, not before. If you can have a vet there at that time, that is even better management. Have a typed standby check list that you use every time.
External Check
• Weight or bodily condition
• Feathers—look for parasites and feather damage. Parasites can be found by wrapping a piece of sticking plaster the wrong way round your finger and running it through the feathers.
• Eyes—clear and healthy, with no filming over.
• Wings—watch the joints.
• Feet—look for redness and heat or swelling.
• Mutes—look for staining of vent.
• Oral check—the inside of the mouth should be nice and pink.
• Nasal cavities—check clear.
• Check the rings for clarity and comfortable fit.
Internal Check
• Check respiration and heart rates, listen for noises.
• Take a mute sample and have it tested.
It is a good idea to spray for parasites and worm the birds anyway, to avoid having to recatch should any be present in the mute samples.
Harris Hawk
For external parasites, we use either Johnson’s Antimite or Alugan spray, not the powder. Always spray the bird out of doors, never inside or in a confined space. Hold the spray well away from the bird and watch you don’t spray eyes, its or yours. Make sure the under wings and tail are sprayed, and the back of the head.
For internal parasites, such as worms, we use Panacur wormer for dogs and cattle. We give this orally with a plastic 1ml syringe for most birds, using a larger syringe and a tube for the eagles and vultures. The dosage is 1ml per 1kg body-weight (Neil Forbes). This wormer is better than the sheep wormer of the same name as it has higher strength and less has to be given. It can also be obtained in small quantities, the sheep wormer gives you enough for a whole flock of sheep.
For catching birds the quickest and best way is to use a landing net. Few birds apart from the really large eagles, won’t fit a good—sized one. The advantage of the net is that the bird grabs at the mesh with its talons, keeping the foot open, and rarely punctures its own feet, which is very likely to happen if you catch a bird by hand. When catching up any bird of prey for whatever reason, cut the sharp tips off all the talons. The only exception to this is birds that are just about to be released to the wild and which need sharp talons for survival. If you leave the bird in the net while trimming the talons, there is even less likelihood of it wounding itself. Use a good small pair of electrical wire-cutters, but don’t cut too much off or the talon will bleed copiously. This is bound to happen occasionally; we usually hold the bird until the bleeding stops, put on antibiotic powder and, if we have cut much too high, an ordinary fabric Elastoplast to keep the wound clean for a couple of days. The plaster will come off of its own accord. Then if catching the bird for pen cleaning, put it into the box and don’t do the rest of the examination and worming until just before releasing back to the pen.
If a bird has cut its own foot with a talon, clean the place well, dress with antibiotic powder or cream, cover with a plaster and leave. Birds’ cuts seem to heal much better if the birds are put back into pens and can move around, keeping their circulation good, rather than confined in small compartments where their circulation will not be half so active.
Wallberg’s Eagle
Beaks should be checked for excessive growth, top and bottom mandibles. It is often difficult to spot overgrowth in lower mandibles when birds are loose in pens, but easy when examining by hand. The lower mandible will sometimes be too long, but more often the two sides will start to curl inwards, trapping food and sometimes leading to discomfort or infection. This excessive growth of beak can be easily nibbled back with the cutters. The upper mandible may be too long, in which case cut it back with the wire-cutters. It is possible to cut it back too far, cutting into the quick and causing it to bleed. Again, clean the cut, but don’t dress. Make sure that the bird is given very well slashed food for about a week, so that the discomfort of a sore beak does not stop it feeding.
I have heard that some people take blood samples from birds of prey by cutting the beak back to the quick and catching the blood. Personally I think this is potty, and poor management. Our blood samples are taken from the bird’s wing, and always by a good vet. Not only is this safer for the bird, but it gives you an independent witness for the sample taking, which could be useful if you ever needed it in a court case.
The tooth on the beak of falcons can cause problems, particularly in small falcons such as Merlins. It will sometimes split, and if not caught early the split can go right up to the cere, causing enormous problems. Food gets lodged in the split, further widening it and risking infection. The bird should have the split cut from the side with cutters. Usually the beak will flake away to the end of the split. Great care must be taken. We then file the beak down until the split has gone, using small engineering files. You may end up with a bird that looks a little odd, but it must be done. The beak should be evened up on both sides so that pressure is not put too much on one point. If the split is very bad, take the bird to someone who knows what they are doing, if you are worried about tackling it yourself. Car-body filler can be used to fill cracks that are difficult to file back but again, advice should be taken.
When physically casting (holding a bird bodily), it is much easier, and better for the bird’s plumage, to wrap it in a teacloth or lightweight towel. This means the bird is firmly held and the primaries cannot crack if it struggles. I am very unhappy about birds being held on their backs. I much prefer them held upright when in the hand and on their fronts on tables. There will be times when it is unavoidable, but if it is avoidable then I would always recommend not holding them on their backs. I have seen them die that way. Birds with any heart or respiratory problems should never be held thus. A cushion put on a table before placing the bird there will give the bird something, other than its own feet, to hold on to.
I read in one paper of a vet suggesting that most birds of prey will lie still on their backs while being weighed, or examined, if the examiner moves slowly. My only answer is that if that approach was tried on most of my birds he or she would very soon change his mind. It is always better to have at least two people for examining birds, one to hold and one to examine. With big birds, particularly when taking blood samples, we have three people.
Foot Problems
Feet in birds of prey tend to have poor circulation. If there are any small cuts or punctures, infection can and does get in. Bumblefoot, as it is generally called, can be very difficult to cure unless caught in the early stages. Without doubt, 99 per cent of bumblefoot is caused by poor perching, both for tethered birds and birds in pens. It is vital to get perching right, both for the mental and physical comfort of the bird. It was interesting to note that when we built the Eagle Barn this year, two pairs of relatively tame vultures were in pens in the barn over the somewhat extended five month finishing period. Because they were tame we could work in pens around them finishing the work, moving the vultures anytime we wanted to work on the pen they inhabited. Consequently the birds had slightly differently placed perches each time they were moved. It was easy to notice that they were very much happier in some pens than in others, although the inside of each pen was absolutely identical apart from perch positions. Once we had established which perches they were happiest with we altered those in the pens they were to have as their final home and, hurrah, happy, comfortable birds.
The physical comfort is easier to get right and even more important in the prevention of foot problems. Make sure that the timber used for perches is not too hard (very old seasoned timber gets like iron) and there are no rough or sharp edges. Give the option of a rounded piece of timber on the edge of the nest ledge. A rock or rounded concrete lump in the pen will often be used and keeps talons down. The edge of the bath should be wide and rounded. No squared timber should be used unless the edges have been planed off. You should be able to run your hand along all possible perching areas and not get any splinters.
The Peregrine Fund use a platform perch in each pen with a coconut doormat on top. The perch is slightly angled down so that it does not hold moisture and many of the birds love it. I like the idea but haven’t used it in the Eagle Barn as the platform would have to be enormous. However, with falcons—which is basically all the Peregrine Fund and the World Center for Birds of Prey at Boise, Idaho, deal with—it is a good idea. Falcons tend to be more susceptible to bumblefoot than other species, apart from Sparrowhawks.
With birds that are tethered, it is a good idea to give a choice of two perches. Two perches for the birds to choose from will make their life more interesting and keep their feet in better condition. We use 1 to 2in (2.5 to 5cm) thick cork on the top of our blocks. It is easy to clean and disinfect, and does not get too cold in freezing weather. With birds that may have had foot problems, we give a softer padded block. I like padded bow perches as well, particularly with any of the sparrowhawk family. Both European Sparrowhawks and Black Sparrowhawks have fine delicate skin and this can easily get worn and sore on a hard perch.
At the first sign of heat, redness or swelling get the bird to a vet. A good vet should take a swab of the infection before prescribing any drugs as the infection can take several forms, some of which are susceptible to certain drugs and some to others. If the infection is not responding within a week, go back to the vet and ask to try another drug, or surgery may be required. When treating birds, for heaven’s sake remember to give the full course of drugs if they have been prescribed. Giving only half a course and stopping because the infection seems to clear up can be fatal. The infection may come back and be harder to control the next time. So if a five-day course is prescribed, go the full five days, not four.
Not all lumps and bumps on feet are likely to be bumblefoot. There will be the occasional corn, again, these are usually caused by poor perches. Hunting birds will sometimes get a thorn in a foot or leg. This will often show as a lump later on, with no heat or reddening. These can often be squeezed and the lump will pop out. Dress and cover the hole to stop infection getting in and it should heal with no problems. However, whatever the problem, it is always best to get a vet to look at it early on, rather than wait and have an infection grow worse. There is absolutely no excuse for the chronic bumblefoot we used to see in birds. Anyone allowing a bird to get to that state should be banned from keeping them.
A Healthy Diet
As with any creature, including humans, a healthy diet is one of the ways to a healthy life. For the last twenty years, day-old cockerels have been easily available and for most of us they made up the bulk of our birds’ diet. As stated before, there is nothing wrong with DOCs, indeed, given with other food they are excellent. But they are not good enough on their own. I know many people disagree with me over this, but I am still convinced that if they improved their diet for their birds, they would also improve their breeding.
As food has been discussed before I will not go into it again except to warn about a few possible problems that may arise. Over the last five years the number of hatcheries all over Britain has been reduced. Our own local one closed down just as Jo and I took over the Centre. Finding good supplies of DOCs is not easy and for people such as ourselves, with large collections, things can get very hard. For example, in our first year on our own, Jo and I on two separate occasions were down to one day’s food supply and we didn’t know where we were going to get more. Both times, having spent hours on the phone and even more hours travelling we managed, but only just. Because of that we spent £7,000 on a deep freeze and chiller unit. It then took us about three months to fill the freezer section. The week after the unit was completed and filled up, our supplier had an outbreak of disease and there were no chicks available for three months. This can happen at any time to any supplier.
With increasing imports of eggs from Europe because of the EEC, many egg producers in Britain are going out of business. It is these people who order the female chicks, thus providing us with the surplus male chicks. There is increasing demand for DOCs for new falconers, mink breeders, zoos and various other users, so it is vital for all bird of prey keepers to have other sources of different types of food available in emergencies. It is also vital to teach the birds to eat a varied diet. As already discussed, birds can become food imprints and it is no good waiting until you have to change their diet, which could possibly happen in the coldest of weather, before trying to get birds to eat, say mice, when they have only been used to chicks.
It is good practice to have one of the DOCs tested every now and again, as salmonella has been found in them among other problems. The odd test will give you the chance to spot possible problems before they affect your birds.
Other types of food are more expensive than DOCs, but don’t you think your birds are worth it? Our quail cost from 20p to 50p each, depending on the size. You would be pushed to home produce them for less than that, and the time and trouble taken to do so would be enormous. One quail is enough for most birds until you come to the big eagles and vultures. Half a quail is enough for a small hawk or falcon such as Sparrowhawks or Merlins.
Apart from varying the food types being important, it is also very important to make sure that the food is kept hygienically. If it is to be frozen, or you buy it ready frozen, make sure that freezing has been done quickly. If large bags are put into deep freezes, the middle can take up to three or four days to freeze, giving plenty of time for bacteria to build up to dangerous levels. Food should be frozen in single layers and not packed into bags until after it is frozen solid. This makes defrosting and handling far easier as well. Never feed refrozen food, it can kill.
Deep freezes and fridges should be disinfected regularly and any other food containers as well. Food should be thawed quickly and fed quickly, not left for days. Food ledges should be cleaned once a week and be positioned out of the direct sun. Remains of food in pens should be removed as regularly as possible. Owls have to be watched during the breeding season as they will often try to store food in the nests with the eggs. Not only does this raise the risk of infection in the eggs, but if old or off food is fed to newly hatched young they will die very quickly. This again is where design of pens will count. If the food ledge has a removable surface, like a drawer, surplus and old food can be removed far more easily. Nest ledges must be easy to see into.
Many people overfeed their aviary birds. Apart from very cold spells and when feeding young, birds should never have so much food that they leave it. There is a train of thought that says don’t feed birds one day a week, so that they have one day in seven when they fast. With some birds such as vultures this can and does work, but it may cause bonding problems with more aggressive birds. We don’t do it here except with some of the more settled very large birds.
Be very careful with food of which you don’t know the origins. As I have said, road casualties are dangerous as you never know why they have been run over. A friend of mine has just told me of a rabbit brought to a falconer for his bird, that had been ferreted. It was guaranteed not shot. The chap who caught it was telling the truth; he had not shot it. But someone else had had a go previously, the rabbit had survived and carried the shot and, when it was finally caught, the bird who ate it died. One piece of lead shot is enough to kill a bird of prey. Without any shadow of doubt, no bird of prey keeper can be too careful with the food he or she feeds to the birds.
General Hygiene
Hygiene is vitally important in lots of ways as well as in food. Gloves should be cleaned and disinfected regularly; every falconer knows how quickly they get very dirty. If you don’t want to risk washing them, scrape off the dirt with a blunt knife and wipe over with a cloth. Then, with one of those small misters for indoor plants, spray on a solution of disinfectant—not too strong so that it will affect the bird—and let the glove dry out overnight before use again. We have experimented a little with our gloves and one of my staff found that you can put them through the washing machine and if you dry them quickly then rub, mould and generally push them around in your hands, they will come back soft again. I make no guarantees though, it will depend on the type of leather.
Blyth’s Hawk Eagle bred at the Centre (Eric & David Hosking)
Blewitt, a male Lanner bred at the Centre in 1977. He is one of the best demonstration birds I have ever come across
Falconry bags are a positive haven for disease. How many of us have left meat in bags and come back to find all sorts of disgusting things inside. Clean them regularly, once a week. Canvas ones can be scrubbed in hot water and disinfectant, good leather ones should be lined with plastic which can be cleaned easily. They should be so clean at all times that you could put in a sandwich and feel like eating it after it has been in there for half an hour. If you could not manage to eat it, your bag is a threat to your bird.
Blocks and bow perches should be scrubbed once a week and areas where birds are regularly tethered can be sprayed with disinfectant on dry days, giving time for them to dry out before returning the birds. Baths should be filled daily for tethered birds and weekly for aviary birds. A mild solution of disinfectant can be used to clean them out, if the bath is rinsed out well afterwards.
Please remember, however, that over-use of disinfectant near birds without thorough rinsing can be dangerous.
Nest ledges in pens are wonderful places for bacteria to collect. It has been noticeable that some raptor breeders will have several good breeding seasons for up to say four years, then everything starts to go wrong. We have had several reports of this. All of them have been due to nest ledges being left uncleared for that period. After we have suggested that the whole nest ledge be removed, destroyed by fire and replaced by a new one, cleaned regularly, the breeding success has returned.
All dirty material, collected faeces, dirty nest materials, food remains, clearings from pens and the like should be put on compost heaps well away from where birds are kept or should be burned, again well away from the birds.
Never put down any rat poison near birds of prey. It is not worth the risk of poisoning a bird. If you have problems with vermin, traps should be placed outside pens. There is no rat or mouse poison on the market today that is safe for birds of prey.
Keep an eye on the birds’ mutes. This is easy with trained birds, but not so easy with aviary birds. However, if you use a pair of binoculars and check the mutes under perches, it is surprising how much you can see. Any abnormalities should be noted and fresh samples taken to the local laboratory for testing. By the time aviary birds are showing signs of illness, the disease is probably well advanced and it may be too late. After a while, with experience, looking at the birds regularly, you may find that you occasionally just get a feeling that something is odd, not quite right. Don’t ignore that feeling, you could well be right. Every time I have had that feeling and ignored it I have regretted it.
All these requirements of health and hygiene should be routine on the part of keepers of birds of prey. They are basic to maintaining the health, in both breeding and hunting birds.
The Sick Bird
Any sick bird should be isolated immediately in warm, quiet and dim quarters until the problem has been diagnosed. If you haven’t got indoor isolation quarters you are in trouble. You should always be organised to cope with such problems before they happen.
Broad spectrum antibiotics are useful to have on hand and used if the bird looks as if results of tests cannot be waited for, but must be prescribed by a vet, if he is able to do so. Don’t ever hand on drugs to other people. Keep them locked away, and out of reach of children. Your medicine cupboard should be dark and not too warm. Expiry dates should be checked regularly on the containers. Dispose of all out-of-date drugs safely. Do not leave them where humans or animals might find them in years to come.
Some vets may prescribe drugs suitable for poultry. These are usually administered in large quantities of drinking water. Point out that birds of prey don’t drink large amounts of water and that this method is often not suitable for raptors.
Fits in birds of prey has been discussed in chapter 2. There are various reasons for fits, almost all of them are caused by some dietary deficiency or other. Any bird that has fits should be taken to a vet immediately. It should be fed up and not flown until the vet has given the all clear. Dietary deficiency can also cause feather plucking although another reason can be boredom particularly in skylight and seclusion pens.
The occasional bird will suffer from travel sickness, I have a Lanner who is always sick when travelling in a car, and sometimes quite severely. He looks awful and is obviously very unhappy travelling. Cure—we don’t travel him. I realise that this may be difficult for anyone with only one bird that they want to hunt. However, if the bird is badly sick on the way to hunting grounds it will not fly well and will have lost valuable body fluids. It would be better to use that bird for breeding rather than subject it to the misery of car sickness. Any human who has suffered this affliction (and I am one, I still get car sick) would never willingly force it on another living creature. Never travel birds hooded if they have not cast or are liable to be sick. Always keep an eye on hooded birds while they travel.
There are still falconers who leave their birds hooded for hours at a time on a regular basis. This is not only cruel, but it is unnecessary, does not get birds tame and can be dangerous. I always feel I would like to do the same thing to those people and see how they feel after two hours of sense-deprivation. I am damn sure they would not like it.
Dead Birds
Inevitably, birds in care will die occasionally, and inevitably these deaths will not always be from old age. Therefore for the sake of future birds it is important to get a post mortem done on any bird that dies; particularly if the cause of death is unknown. Sometimes you may know how it died, but not why.
Corpses should be got to the labs within a few hours of death, preferably delivered by hand. If there is any delay, put the body in a fridge and chill. If specimens are to be sent through the post they must be well parcelled and sent First Class Letter Post, not parcel post, and marked Urgent:Pathological Specimen. All symptoms should be described, and all drugs used recorded as these will affect the outcome of the report.
If a bird dies late on a Saturday or just before a Bank Holiday (which is normal), it should be frozen and then delivered for post mortem as soon as possible after the labs have opened again. Freezing must be done as quickly as possible. The fuller the deep freeze, the slower the process. Freezing does damage the body and a full post mortem will probably not be possible.
People breeding birds of prey may well find it very helpful to have all unhatched fertile eggs looked at for problems. If this helps to hatch and rear one extra bird the following year, it should pay the costs easily.
There are several very good books that go into detail on the various diseases and problems common to all birds of prey (see Bibliography). However, the best method of defence against disease is to keep birds as clean and healthy as possible to avoid problems arising in the first place.